Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force
| Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Base | |
|---|---|
The seal of the I.R.I Air Defense Base
|
|
| Active | 1933–1954 (Part of Ground Force) 1954–2008 (Part of Air Force) 2008–Present (As Separate Force) |
| Country |
 Iran |
| Branch |
 Artesh
|
| Type | Air defence |
| Size | 15,000 (estimate) |
| Headquarters | Tehran |
| Motto(s) |
Arabic: وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَـكِنَّ اللّهَ رَمَى "And You Did Not Throw When You Threw, But God Did Throw" [Quran 8:17] |
| March | 18 April |
| Anniversaries | 1 September |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |  |
The Islamic Republic of Iran Khatam al-Anbia Air Defense Base (Persian: قرارگاه پدافند هوایی خاتم الانبياء ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران) is a branch split from IRIAF and part of Islamic Republic of Iran Army. It controls all of Iran's military land-based air defense. It is currently commanded by Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili.
As of 1996 Iranian Air Defence forces included about 18,000 military personnel. The tradition of aircraft-based air defense, derived from the US-trained Air Force from before the 1978-79 revolution, was giving way to an expanding arsenal of ground-based air defense missile systems. Still, Iran was at the time unable to construct a nationwide, integrated air defense network, and continued to rely on point defense of key locations with surface-to-air missile batteries.
The bulk of Iran's Air Force Air Defence holdings by the mid-1990s revolved around 30 Improved HAWK fire units (12 battalions/150+ launchers), 45-60 SA-2 and HQ-2J/23 (CSA-1 Chinese equivalents of the SA-2) launchers. Also available were some 30 Rapier and 15 Tigercat SAM launchers. There are reports of the transfer of SA-6 launchers to Iran from Russia in 1995/1996.In 1997 the Iranian Air Defense forces declared the Almaz S-200 Angara (SA-5 'Gammon') low-to high-altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) operational.
In December 2005 Iran entered into a contract to purchase 29 TOR-M1 (SA-15 Gauntlet) mobile surface-to-air missile defense systems from Russia worth more than US$700 million (EUR 600 million).
Between 1998 and 2002 Iran imported approximately 6 JY-14 surveillance radars from the China National Electronics Import-Export Corporation. The radar can detect targets up to 300 km away and is now part of Iran's air defense system.
On 1 September 2008 it was reported that Russia may proceed with plans to sell advanced S-300 air defence systems to Iran under a secret contract believed to have been signed in 2005. On 22 September 2010 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree banning the sale of the S-300 and other military equipment to Iran. The sale was canceled because of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 sanctions on Iran. On 10 November 2010 Iran announced that it had developed a version of the S-300 missile.
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Wikipedia